Sex Education in Public Schools

Sex education in the United States is hugely lacking inclusivity and proper factual evidence. From proper information on consent to medically accurate information on the LGBTQ+ community. The sex education system in the U.S. leaves many students and people, in general, lacking basic but very vital information, this can not only lead to personal issues but it can also lead to societal issues as well, such as; crime, rape, and teen pregnancy rates rising, as explained below.

To figure out if there was a difference in crime, rape, and teen pregnancy rates between states with good sex education programs versus states with poor sex education programs we took 12 states – 6 poorly rated and 6 positively rated – and evaluated them based on what their sex education programs consist of. The study proved that states with a good sex education program had 36% fewer rapes reported, 55% fewer teen pregnancies, and 22% fewer crimes reported. This data suggests that good sex education can make all the difference in society and can benefit it endlessly.

Good sex education means tackling sensitive topics and covering things that some parents are wary of. However, it protrudes many opportunities and not only opens people’s minds to proper health and sexual identity, but it also teaches people proper consent practices. A new study by NPR, the Kaiser Family, and Harvard´s Kennedy School of Government found that only 7% of Americans say that sex education shouldn’t be taught in schools, there is also little debate over what kind of sex education should be taught. Still, 15% of Americans believe schools should only teach abstinence-based sex education. Almost half of Americans believe that both abstinence and contraception should be taught so that students can be exposed to multiple different choices.

Consent is the notion that we should respect one another’s boundaries, in order to be safe and preserve healthy relationships. Learning consent at an early age can mean many different things, from whether or not they want to accept a hug, to say yes or no to playing a game. As time goes on schools should continue to feed children the notion of consent so that in the future the boundaries will be engraved into their minds. A large issue is a fact that in high school and middle school the teaching of consent is forgotten. Only one semester-long health class in all of the high schools teaches consent out of the four-plus years of schooling, because of that the lines of consent are blurry and many people are left without a solid idea of what consent is at an older age. (Tatter and Boudreau)

The public school system needs to assess its sex education program and make sure that people learn what is needed to understand themselves and their feelings, while also accepting those around them and respecting boundaries. To learn and flourish people need to learn in a way that opens their minds to different ideas and options. Sex education is very important and it can make or break society, sex education needs to be inclusive for us to thrive.

Works Cited
Chen, Grace. “Public Schools and Sex Education.” Public School Review, 23 May 2022, https://www.publicschoolreview.com/blog/public-schools-and-sex-education. Accessed 13 December 2022.
“Forcible rape rate in the U.S. by state 2020.” Statista, 27 July 2022, https://www.statista.com/statistics/232563/forcible-rape-rate-in-the-us-by-state/. Accessed 13 December 2022.
Sanders, TK, et al. “These States Have the Worst, Least Comprehensive Sex Education Programs.” 247Health, 28 June 2022, https://247health.com/these-states-have-the-worst-least-comprehensive-sex-education-programs/. Accessed 13 December 2022.
“Stats of the State – Teen Birth Rates.” CDC, https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/teen-births/teenbirths.htm. Accessed 13 December 2022.
Tatter, Grace, and Emily Boudreau. “Consent at Every Age | Harvard Graduate School of Education.” Harvard Graduate School of Education, 19 December 2018, https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/18/12/consent-every-age. Accessed 13 December 2022.